(a) Field
The subject matter disclosed generally relates to a system and processes for extraction of at least one product from a source of fruit or vegetable matter. More specifically, the subject matter disclosed generally relates to a system and processes using a counter-current wash process, whereby the liquid extract containing the at least one product is further filtered and concentrated.
(b) Related Prior Art
Fruit or vegetable matter can be extracted by various processes in order to obtain a multitude of useful products, such as fibers, sugars, and phytochemical compounds. Among these phytochemicals compounds, polyphenols are recognized for their numerous biological properties, such as antibacterial/antiviral properties, vasodilatation properties, anticarcinogenic properties, anti-inflammatory properties, antioxidant properties, etc. Therefore, their extraction from fruits or vegetables for obtaining concentrated extracts which may be included into other products is highly desirable.
The use of enzymes and solvents such as ethanol or methanol can improve polyphenol recovery during extraction from fruit or vegetable matter. This is based on the fact that using ethanol or methanol as a solvent can lead to significantly more extraction yield than using water because the solubility of some products, such as polyphenols is higher in ethanol and methanol (Sluis, et al. 2001, Virot, et al. 2010). Even though the solubility in water is less, it is possible to reach the same overall level of extraction with water by applying several successive wash steps on the fresh biomass. Moreover, ethanol and methanol solvents are expensive and require additional steps to eliminate them from the final products, which increase the total cost of using a process which uses them. Also, enzyme treatment may cause irreversible damages to some of the products which can be extracted from such fruit or vegetable matter. For example, enzymatic treatment using pectinase may damage pectin from fruits and vegetables during the extraction process. Therefore, no enzymatic treatment is desired in order to keep the pectin intact through a system and process for extraction of products from fruits and vegetables.
Therefore, there is a need for a system and a process that does not use enzymatic pre-treatment.
Also, therefore, there is a need for a system and a process that use water as a solvent.
The process of the present invention is based on successive washes using water as a solvent. For that matter, a multiple steps counter-current wash process has been developed.